The chic, contemporary art–styled Andaz Amsterdam is located right on the Amsterdam Gay Pride Canal Parade's Prinsengracht route, and its pastry chef, Juan Robledo, is a true city expert when it comes to the city's vibrant side. Previously, the Argentina-born Robledo worked at Buenos Aires’ Park Hyatt, the Grand Hyatt Doha, Constance Lemuria Seychelles, and Amsterdam’s Conservatorium. Now he's a trusted source for the LGBT community.

"Andaz is a Hindi word meaning 'personal style,'" he says, 'so here at Andaz I’m encouraged to express my own. I get the chance to learn but also the chance to teach about our community. We’re just a few steps away from important sites such as the Homomonument and Pink Point LGBT information desk, and the Reguliersdwarsstraat gay bar street is just a couple of blocks away.”

Here are Robledo’s top picks for Amsterdam—just be sure to stay out of the bike lanes.

This is Europe’s biggest archive of documents that tell the story of the LGBT community, located in the Public Library of Amsterdam, OBA, which used to occupy what today has become the Andaz. A friend of mine works in a café very close by, so whenever I had to wait for him to finish his shift, I took the opportunity to go to the OBA and by chance I found IHLIA on the sixth floor. Part of the collection is on display, and sometimes special expositions are organized. While most of the archive is kept in storage and only available upon request, they a have a hot pink cabinet where films and books that are allowed to be borrowed are displayed.

I like to brunch here; it’s the hippest place and everything is good. The cakes and tarts are homemade, fresh juices are pressed to order, and the owners are a gay couple. During weekends get there early or get ready to wait. B&R is located in De Pijp, pronounced “pipe,” a very nice neighborhood to walk around while sipping coffee and waiting for a table. For just pastry, around the corner from Andaz is Pompadour. I like their cheesecake and apple pie. They have a little tearoom that sits around 20 people, so on weekends you have to wait or be lucky to get a table. If I open my own shop someday, it will be something that looks like that.

This super hipster restaurant and bar has an open terrace and a manmade beach right on the IJ River’s waterfront. It’s located on the NDSM Island, and to get there you need to take a free ferry from behind Central Station. The NDSM Island was, in the 1950s, the biggest shipyard in Europe. Now it’s home to summer festivals, a museum, student housing, small apartment buildings, and even a luxury hotel housed in the top of a shipping crane, Faralda. What I like is when the weather is nice it becomes a hot spot for young, cool, and good-looking people. Nice to spend the whole afternoon sitting, eating and drinking with friends, and watching people come and go.

This is a speakeasy–style cocktail spot, and unless you know where you’re going it's just another door. You must make bookings in advance and ring a bell to enter. It's quite small inside, very cozy and upscale, and feels exclusive. You get dressed up, because it’s not just going out, it’s an event. The last time I went they had libations with weird names like Daylike Dream in a Pink Cloud. Also, The Butcher is a cool burger place with a hidden cocktail bar where you have to call in advance to make a reservation. For a great cocktail bar that is not speakeasy style, or traditional, and they experiment, try Tales and Spirits.

It’s a cute little store that sells funny postcards, all kind of decorative items with a gay flair, and in the basement even kinky outfits. I like to go there when I have to buy a funny present for a friend. There is also a very cute gay bookstore, Vrolijk, stocked with gay comics, novels, books, and a lot of postcards.

What I love about Milkshake, now in its third year, is that it’s a festival that gets together all the community. You can also find a lot of straight people. The crowd is simply amazing. There are other parties for younger crowds like Rosario in the Vondelpark. They also randomly throw parties in restaurants, which they list on their Facebook. Rapido and Funhouse are circuit kinds of parties, and for bears, Bear Necessity.

The name is pronounced “niks,” which in Dutch means “nothing.” It’s inside two Dutch houses and has, like, three dance floors. By American standards it’s still quite small. Every year they bring the drag queens of *RuPaul’s Drag Race,*so it gets quite crowded.